Unable to rebind controls.

[Bull Dog]

Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME? Another friggin console port.

I just purchased Vessel about 20 minutes ago. I looked at the reviews, looked in this forum, ect. There didn't seem to be any serious problems with the game. So I thought, "Hey, looks like another cool indie game. I'll buy it and help support the 'little guy'." Regrettably I somehow missed the fact that there was a demo.

Anyhow, Vessel finishes downloading. I load it up, start a new game and realize that Jump is on "Spacebar". Then I realize that there isn't any way to rebind controls in game. WHAT THE HELL?

This is 2012, PC games since the dawn of time have supported the ability to rebind your controls. A handy dandy graphical map showing default PC and Crapbox360 controller controls doesn't cut it.

I *need* the ability to rebind my buttons. For example, I jump with "E", not use "Spacebar". I'm not afraid to manually edit a config file to rebind my controls if I have to, I just need to know where to look.

Annoyed and jarateed I wasted my money......If only I had seen that there was a demo available.

Edit: Found this thread a few pages down. My above sentiments still stand. I will however wait, fuming over in a corner, for the promised patch....that will hopefully bring functionality that should have been in the game pre-alpha.

[Grey Area]

Don't think you read the forum that well, or you'd have seen my post here too

I'm editing my post 'cos it sounded a bit troll-ish. I'm fully supportive of your point - not being able to change controls and being forced to use a Crapbox (I liked that a lot) 360 controller is really sucky.

[Bull Dog]

You're right, I didn't read the forum very well. I only them a cursory glance and to be honest, an inability to rebind controls wasn't even on my radar at the time.

I wish I had seen that there was a demo.......missed it somehow. /facepalm

[epmode]

You're right that the option to rebind should be there. But I've seen this kind of thing very often since the 360 pad became the de facto PC controller. If you don't have a 360 pad (which is actually an excellent controller for most 3D games), you can usually get around the limitation by using a 360 pad emulator. ..which doesn't seem to be working in this game.

[Bull Dog]

Originally Posted by epmode

You're right that the option to rebind should be there. But I've seen this kind of thing very often since the 360 pad became the de facto PC controller. If you don't have a 360 pad (which is actually an excellent controller for most 3D games), you can usually get around the limitation by using a 360 pad emulator. ..which doesn't seem to be working in this game.

I do not own a game pad. I have no use for one. Other semi-non-related ramblings below.

Spoiler:

---

The proliferation of the 360 controller schemes in multi-platform games is likely due to the fact that, A. The 360 Controller is supported in Windows. B. The programmers have already done the mapping work for it on the Xbox 360. Including support for it in the Windows version is likely fairly trivial.

My core gaming focus is First Person Shooter games, and compared to a mouse and keyboard, gamepads are absolutely, utterly abysmal.

The "de facto" PC controller is the Mouse and Keyboard.

---

[epmode]

By "controller" I meant "pad". I prefer mouse + keyboard for FPS as well! But definitely not for something like this.

By the way, I didn't know that you couldn't remap a keyboard either. I can't even remember the last time I've seen that.

[Mr.DiGi]

You can remap keys using Autohotkey until developers release patch.

My AutoHotKey setting for Vessel:

#IfWinActive, ahk_class Vessel Window
{
  Numpad1::1
  Numpad2::2
  Numpad3::3
  Numpad4::4
  Numpad5::5
  Numpad6::6
  VKDC::E
  End::Q
  Enter::Space
  Numpad0::Z
}

Just from mind few games with "you can't rebind me":

AAA Titles:
- Dead Space (can't bind arrows at all)
- Bad Company 2, Deus Ex: HR, Just Cause 2 (you can't bind "Enter")
- Battlefield 3 (Quick Time Events sh*t still using "E", rebinding "Q" sometimes doesn't work)
- Alan Wake (funny, old May Payne was fine. In new patch they fixed most issues. Great support from developers)
- Witcher 2 (fixed in patch)

Indie titles:
- Renegade Ops (can't play with arrows. Still not fixed, I'll never buy anything else from them)
- Payday: The Heist (fixed in patch)
- Ion Assault (can't play with arrows. Fixed in patch)
- Rochard (fixed in patch)
- Vessel (hope for fix)

I just hate this trend

[Grey Area]

Well, my original post was called "I'd buy this if...", and I hold to that. As soon as they patch it to have remappable keys AND support my Cyborg Rumble pad, I'll buy it - and I'm afraid I'm a cynical old ♥♥♥♥ so I need to see the patch in the demo before I part with my cash.

So how much is it going to cost them to fix it? There's my £10 pledged for starters...

[johnk]

Hey Bull Dog and all, sorry for the fury we've unleashed with not adding key remapping at launch. I'm going to patch this asap, probably in a config file.

360 buttons are displayed because that's the most common controller type, would take a lot of resources to have graphics for all the different types of controllers out there.

Thanks for the work around Mr Digi! Much appreciated. And thanks for everyone's patience.

[Grey Area]

Originally Posted by johnk

360 buttons are displayed because that's the most common controller type, would take a lot of resources to have graphics for all the different types of controllers out there.

First...I think the popularity of the 360 controller is Microsoft hype. There are way better controllers out there, and PC owners buy what works, whereas console owners have less choice (buy an Xbox, you get an Xbox controller).

Second...I don't need a pretty picture of my controller, much less a picture of a controller that someone has assumed I am using. What I need is the functionality to assign a keypress or button press to a particular action. I know where the buttons are on my controller and the keys on my keyboard...I don't need you to show them to me on screen!

Last...awaiting the patch (semi) patiently...

[epmode]

Originally Posted by Grey Area

First...I think the popularity of the 360 controller is Microsoft hype.

The 360 controller is one of the best general use controllers I've ever used, and the inclination of developers to design a baseline 360 config (alongside mouse+keyboard) is one of the best things about PC gaming in recent years. Do you honestly think that another single PC pad sells more units than a 360 pad?

Sure, there are better specialized controllers. You wouldn't want to use a 360 pad for a flight sim or a fighting game but it's excellent for most everything else.

[RabidZombie]

Originally Posted by epmode

The 360 controller is one of the best general use controllers I've ever used, and the inclination of developers to design a baseline 360 config (alongside mouse+keyboard) is one of the best things about PC gaming in recent years. Do you honestly think that another single PC pad sells more units than a 360 pad?

Sure, there are better specialized controllers. You wouldn't want to use a 360 pad for a flight sim or a fighting game but it's excellent for most everything else.

The d-pad is appalling. Fix that, and you already have a better general controller.

The controllers sells so well because everyone has them for a 360.

Frankly, XInput has ♥♥♥♥ed up controllers for the PC. Now developers are content with support XInput, which they really shouldn't be. It'd be super nice to have motion sensing, pressure sensitive buttons, better force feedback and such similar features, but XInput has stupid limitations. DirectInput was so much better... :\

[epmode]

Originally Posted by RabidZombie

The d-pad is appalling.

True. I keep a Saturn USB pad around for exactly that reason.

Originally Posted by RabidZombie

Now developers are content with support XInput, which they really shouldn't be.

This is also true. But it's been my experience that many older games that should have offered pad support didn't because they figured that accounting for 275379234769 different controller models is hard.

Pad support is a lot more common now thanks to the 360 pad. And even if you're not using one, those lovely emulators allow you to get most anything working with modern games.

[Grey Area]

The most popular operating system in the world is Windows. That doesn't mean it's the best. It's the most popular because it comes with PCs.

The Xbox controller is the most popular because it comes with the Xbox. It's "average"...which is exactly how Microsoft planned it. Any better and they're wasting money, any worse and people might actually get something else.

Originally Posted by epmode

Do you honestly think that another single PC pad sells more units than a 360 pad?

That depends. Are we counting people who have an Xbox controller because they bought an Xbox, or just people who buy controllers specifically for their PC? I think if you subtracted number of Xboxes sold from total sales of Xbox controllers, the numbers would be considerably lower than some other successful controllers.

Equally the lack of support for other controllers is NOT some sort of conscious drive toward uniformity, it is plain and simple laziness.

The emulator software IS a Great Thing (Winnie-the-Pooh style caps intentional). It's just a pity it doesn't work with Vessel.

[Bull Dog]

Originally Posted by johnk

Hey Bull Dog and all, sorry for the fury we've unleashed with not adding key remapping at launch. I'm going to patch this asap, probably in a config file.

360 buttons are displayed because that's the most common controller type, would take a lot of resources to have graphics for all the different types of controllers out there.

Thanks for the work around Mr Digi! Much appreciated. And thanks for everyone's patience.

Thank you for the update. I appreciate it, and am looking forward to being able to play your game.